Conventionally, for sashless door-type automobiles such as a hard top, research and development of weather strips with various structures has been conducted in order to improve sealing properties, sound insulating properties, and the like at a peripheral section of an opening in a body of such an automobile.
With reference to FIG. 4, the following description will discuss a reference example of the structure of a weather strip. (a) of FIG. 4 is a perspective view schematically illustrating an arrangement in the vicinity of a door opening in a sashless door-type automobile to which a weather strip in accordance with the reference example is attached. (b) of FIG. 4 is a schematic view illustrating a positional relationship between the weather strip illustrated in (a) of FIG. 4 and door glass at a time when a door is closed.
As illustrated in (a) of FIG. 4, a weather strip 400 is attached to a region of an automobile 300 which region extends, on a side of a body of the automobile, from a lower end of a front pillar 531 through a roof 532 to a lower end of a center pillar 533. The weather strip 400 seals between a peripheral section 520 of a door opening 510 and door glass 525 of a sashless door 524.
Next, with reference to (b) of FIG. 4, the following description will further detail the structure of the weather strip 400 described above.
As illustrated in (b) of FIG. 4, the weather strip 400 includes (i) a base 401 secured along the peripheral section 520, (ii) a sealing section 402 which erects from one end of the base 401 and, when the sashless door 524 is closed, seals a peripheral section of the door glass 525, (iii) a seal lip section 403 which erects from the other end of the base 401, and (iv) a stopper section 404 which erects from the base 401 between the sealing section 402 and the seal lip 403. The seal lip section 403 is in a shape of a gutter which is open on a side of the sealing section 402, and receives rain, washing water, or the like which flows down from the roof 532 of the automobile 300.
When the sashless door 524 is closed, a tip surface 526 of the door glass 525 comes in elastic contact with the sealing section 402, and a side surface 527 of the door glass 525 on an inner side of the automobile comes in elastic contact with the seal lip section 403. In a state where the sashless door 524 is closed, the stopper section 404 restricts the seal lip section 403, which is in elastic contact with the door glass 525, from moving toward the inner side of the automobile.
Note here that, in the case of the weather strip 400 having the structure described above, closing the sashless door 524 causes air to enter a first space surrounded by the base 401, the seal lip section 403, the stopper section 404, and the door glass 525. Force to close the sashless door 524 urges the air to flow in a direction indicated by an arrow Pa in (b) of FIG. 4.
However, in the destination of the direction indicated by the arrow Pa, a panel section (not shown) of the sashless door 524 is provided. This prevents the air which has entered the first space from being discharged outside. This may invite sudden generation of reactive force in the vicinity of an area extending from a belt line BL to a lock section of the automobile 300, and consequently cause degradation in closing property of the sashless door 524.
Furthermore, in the case of the structure as described above of the weather strip 400, rain or the like received by the seal lip section 403 may leak through a tip of the seal lip 403 on the sealing section 402 side into a second space surrounded by the base 401, the sealing section 402, the stopper section 404, and the door glass 525. Note here that the second space is located in the vicinity of the tip of the door glass 525 in a state where the sashless door 524 is closed. As such, for example, in a case where some kind of load is applied to the door glass 525, water that has leaked into the second space on a side of the center pillar 533 may further seep out onto a sealing surface (not shown) for attachment of the weather strip 400. In a worst case, the water may intrude into an inside of the automobile 300.
Patent Literatures 1 and 2 disclose weather strips which are different from the weather strip illustrated in (b) of FIG. 4. The weather strip of Patent Literature 1 is intended for simplifying the structure of the weather strip, and the weather strip of Patent Literature 2 is intended for designing the structure of sealing between a door and a door opening provided in a body of a sashless door-type automobile to be one which (i) allows door glass to be moved up and down linearly along a vertical direction and (ii) is simple. The weather strips disclosed in Patent Literatures 1 and 2 are thus different in structure from the weather strip 400 illustrated in (b) of FIG. 4, and Patent Literatures 1 and 2 neither disclose nor suggest any means for solving the problems described above of the weather strip illustrated in (b) of FIG. 4.